Dec 2005

Returning to Argentina we had the guarenteed luxury of staying in a comfy bed with ensuite for the whole of the festive season. In addition to this the views from the chilled out sofa areas, the hostel basically faced over the town and then the lakes and mountains beyond, were worth it alone.

Not all days were spent looking round tacky tourist shops, enjoying the best hot chocolate in the world or buying even more handmade chocolate, honest.

Christmas was a bit of a let down with regard to the festiveness of the whole town. They didn`t even have a Christmas tree in the main square or any lights. I made up for it in our little dorm by buying Sarah some decorations for one of her christmas presents.

For Boxin day we went with a brilliant dutch couple to the nearby Moreno glacier, the most active glacial region in the world. We hired a car and spent the whole day gazing at the glacier. With the face being 50m high and almost 5km wide the chunks that fell off into the lake made one hell of a crash.

We saved the best local attraction til last. The local bird reserve was a bit of a joke with huge fallen down concrete telegraph poles and bashed up bird hides. We did get up close with swooping hawks protecting their territory though.

Realising we weren`t going to be able to make it down to Ushuia (the most southerly city in the world) and back before christmas we headed inland to El Calafate then over the border to Chile for our first attempt at multiday trekking.

We picked up a map, some previsions and booked our early morning coach journey to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Whilst waiting outside our campsite in the cold for the coach we had chat with an English couple, Mark and Maria, (the M&S bag giving their nationality away). They were heading to Torres to do the "W" a large route that covers most of the valleys and look outs in the park. Being a bit doubtful of our walking abilities we chose to only do a small section of the main route but still get the chance to camp near to Glacier Grey and it`s blue lake.

After a bumpy and dust bus ride winding round hairpins at speed we arrived at the park administration and set off on the first leg. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery even better; snow capped mountians and milky blue lakes. The head-wind picked up slightly but we made it to refugio grand paine for mid-afternoon.The refugio was more like resort with hot showers,a grocery store and a windproof communal kitchen. A friendly french trekker who was leaving that day gave us first dibs on her lovely sheltered and flat spot so we were sorted.

The next day clouds had smoothered the mountains in the distance but we set off along the sometimes steep and craggy trail towards glacier grey. We certainly go enough decent views of the glacier during the day and were amazed by the amount of icebergs floating in the lake. We bumped into Mark and Maria halfway along the trail and were pleased to see they`d made it despite their heavy load. Refugio Grey provided an opportune stop for lunch as we took in even more white and blue (a weird toilet cleaner blue) icebergs sailing by driven by the strong winds. Refueled we pushed on and made it to refugio Los Guardas, a campsite with a basic facilities but only 200 metres from glacier Grey. Sarah and I made camp then went for a wander to sit back and marvel at the glacier close up.

After a night of keeping annoying little midgies out of our tent we dead chuffed to be on our final days walking. With perfect weather, bit of a breeze and not too hot, the kilometers rattled by. By early afternoon we`d made it through the nasty long climbs and we back for a we deserved shower. To top it off the sheltered spot we`d left was still free.

Necochea
Arriving late into Necochea from Beunos Aires we grabbed a taxi with the most helpful driver in the world. The campsite we intended to stay at was closed so he literaly whizzed us across town, with the back of the car swinging out on corners, to an alternative riverside campsite. The other campsite looked closed but on closer inspection we found a crazy but every so friendly night porter/ security guard. He didn`t speak a word of English but before midnight we had little "melony" our brand new tent up. We did attract a new canine critter but this time he was as plasid and friendly as they come. We named him Sammy.

The next day we crammed Necochea living into 12hours - spending time realxing near the beach, watching a crazy dog show, riding bikes through parks, forests and sand dunes, enjoying a walk down by the river with it`s huge shipwreck and enjoying homecooked grub with a carton of wine. We had a chat with Carlos, the nightporter chap, he told us that Sammy had been guarding over our tent the whole of the previous night.

Bahia Blanca
Having to wait until 2pm for our coach to Bahia Blanca it was another late night arrival for our quick stopover in a new city. We managed to find a cosy and cheap hotel near to the bus station with a video and pizza place just around the corner. Whilst we waited for our pizza we had a laugh at the list of dodgey/classic titles they had to rent: Father of the Bride, Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

The next day we booked our tickets to Peurto Madryn and put our "killing time" skills to the test as the coach didn`t leave until just before midnight. Thank god for left luggage! We had fun people wacthing in the central plaza, the main park and whilst enjoying a couple of beers along the main high street.

With the likelyhood of being fed on the coach we only needed a small snack to keep us going `til boarding the coach. Having looked around most of the empty restaurants, people don`t head out until gone 10pm, we chose a tendre libre (all you can eat). The waiter chappy explained how things worked and said we had the choice of anything on the buffet carts. We dutifully tucked into the range of pasta, salads anf hot meats. On return from our second mini plateful we were in for a bit of a surprise. The largest hot platter of chicken breast, beef chops and beef steaks. We soon slimmed down the portions from the buffet cart.

Peurto Madryn

Well the weather certainly got colder the further south we got. No wonder that the Welsh decided to settle there with all their crazy sheep farming antics. It also meant that there were plenty of authentic welsh tea rooms to keep warm in. For the price of a cup of tea back home we were spoilt for choice with plate full of 8 different cakes, a plate of scones and cheese and the biggest pot of tea with woolen tea cosy, goes without saying.

Having our fill of cakes and tea the next day we went on a day long wildlife adventure on Penninsula Valdez. It was brilliant to get so close to elephant seals, sea lions, pengiuins with their fluffy little chicks, llamas, birds or prey and other native species. Sarah and I were like little kids running along the coast trying to see more and more.

7th, 8th and 9th December

Arriving after the best nights sleep to the heat of a green house as the morning sun broke through the window of the boat and reflecting off the huge mirror clad skyscrapers.

We found our way round and manged to get some tasty braekfast of fresh orange, coffee and croissants for little more than 1.20 (pounds) for the two of us.

A short while later we made it to our accommodation for the next 3 nights.hostel sol A large 3 storey building with the most friendly family in the world, including the pet kitten "Soli" who loved chasing screwed up paper balls.

Our bid to find a new tent was soon successful as we came across more outdoor equipment shops than you can shake a stick (or a large branch) at.

The choice of food was amazing: tasty pasta along busy streets ideal for people watching, huge pizzas in a cosy local restaurant, fresh salads with cheery waiters. The best meal being an amazing vegetarian all you can eat buffet with unlimited drinks and a scrummy selection of puddings. We bumped into a fellow Londoner and had a chat about weird parents, travelling and dodgey hoteliers; all in all a great afternoon.

4th December 2005
Arriving late in the afternoon we had a mini hike up the coast to find the municipal campsite. Along the we were greated with more weird stares from slow driving oggling drivers than anywhere we´ve been in 5 weeks. If they´d been going any slower they would´ve stopped or driven into the sea.

We eventually arrived at the campsite, sgned in and set up home for the next few days. With the choice of sleeping under trees or even more trees we settled with the trees, easy choice really. The toilets were a bit manky but apart from that you couldn`t really argue with what we were getting for 1.20p each a night.

Once "Tad" ,our tent, was up we went for a wander and eventually found a minimercado to stock up on pasta, water and beer. It`s not been gourmet cuisine all the way you understand.

5th December 2005
The sun woke us up with our rosy cheeks and as there was a nice ocean breeze, and the fact our clothes were a little crusty, we did our favourite chore - WASHING. With our clothes drying in the wind we tucked into fresh bread with dulche de leche (wickedly sweet caramel stuff)and juice then set out for town.

The day was spent enjoying hand made sarnies by the town fountain, looking around the old town with it`s historic gates, cobbled streets and numerous citroen mehari and ami (They even have the hard top meharis Pa!)

In the old town there were numerous shops of local artists and their work. On shop had some brilliant skecthes and we thought we`d get one that`d caught our eye. We should have thought about the price a little more, being $25. We got to the till and the owner carefully wrapped it up, put it in a bag, stappled a paper flower to the bag then said asked us how we`d be paying. After she`d converted it from American dollars it ended up being $230 Uruguayan(pesos), we only had $232 and some small change, phew!

After the excitement of buying local art we made our way home and enjoyed tasty pasta whilst watching the sky turn pink and the wind pick up a far bit. The other reason for sitting by the beach was to evade the a manic dog that had been pestering us for food since we arrived. As we were going to have to do an all-nighter in order to get the ferry to Buenos Aires we made an early night of things.

As it turned out our night was more nightmare than 40 winks. At 1am a loud bang and ripping sound made me jump out of my skin. I awoke to find a large branch had pierced our tent through not only the fly sheet but the mesh inner door, our only way of keeping flying insects at bay.

6th December 2005

After explaining our situation about the tent to the old lady owner she reluctantly gave us a refund of a days camping and off we went one of the longest days so far. All I can say is thank god for bus stations and their cheap as chips lockers. We spent the day enjoying ice cream, the fountain in the town centre, the local beaches, a late night pizza and finally the most uncomfortable bench before heading to the ferry terminal at about 4am